


Discretion

by tyrsdayschild



Series: Rites [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Episode Tag, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-03 22:23:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10260005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tyrsdayschild/pseuds/tyrsdayschild
Summary: Part two of a series. Set during 'Rules and Regulations'. A failure to communicate leads Chase and Chief Burns closer together, but not before they and their team have to pass through no small amount of peril.





	

"Rescue Bots, emergency!" the Chief's voice crackled over the human comm channel. The Bots were quick to respond, hopping onto the vehicle lift and sending it up, all except Blades transforming to their altmodes. As Chase completed his systems check, Blades raced over to the secondary vehicle lift to get to the roof.

"What's the situation?" Chase asked as Chief Burns got into him.

"Huxley's parachute has malfunctioned and he's in freefall," the Chief said. He reached over and punched in map coordinates into Chase's console. "Based on the view from his broadcast, we think he's somewhere above the South Bank subdivision- Graham's calculating more precise coordinates. Share this with the others."

"Affirmative," Chase said, sending the data to his teammates over a short-range databurst.

"Rescue Bots, roll to the rescue!" Heatwave said over their comms as the team moved out.

"Blades and I are going to attempt an air rescue!" Dani said as she and Blades flew ahead of the rest of the team.

"Ground team, we'll need to clear the crash site and make sure no one else gets hurt," the Chief said.

"I see him!" Dani said, "But Huxley's falling too fast for a mid-air grab!"

"At his current speed and trajectory, he'll reach impact... directly ahead of us!" Graham said.

"Not a particularly soft place to crash," observed Boulder.

"What if he bounced instead?" Cody asked over the radio.

"Not a time for jokes, Cody!" Kade snapped.

"I'm serious! There's a birthday party right next to you on Tropello Road- with a bounce house!"

The humans jumped out of the vehicles, and the bots transformed back into root mode. While Chief Burns and Kade cleared the civilians out of the backyard, the bots commandeered the plastic pad inflated with warm air. Dani helped Blades position himself relative to Huxley to push the human reporter towards the backyard. Chase fixed his optics on the small human form, and synched his propriosensors to his teammates, as they moved to ensure the human would land as close to the center of the pad as possible. Chase was startled out of his focus when the tactile sensors on his right pede suddenly registered a disturbing 'squish', and he belatedly realized the one of the human children had forgotten a plate of cake on the lawn when they had headed inside. Huxley was now just ten meters above the ground. Chase refocused and maxxed out his processor, sure his teammates were doing the same, the human's descent subjectively seeming to slow as they calculated his final path. The last few nanoklik's seemed to slow to a full breem, and they took one last step-

Huxley impacted square in the middle of the 'bounce house.' He rebounded several meters back into the air, crashing into his mobile camera, finally triggering his chute, which managed to slow his descent enough that he could land under his own power, stammering into the camera before collapsing on the lawn.

"Graham, Kade, untangle him from his chute, but be careful not to move him! I saw him standing, so he _probably_ didn't get a spinal injury from that landing, but let's not push it!" Dani said over the comms.

"I wasn't born yesterday, Dani," Kade grumbled, but complied with his sister's orders. He and his brother pulled the chute off of the reporter, Graham moving to secure the reporter's head and neck while Kade pulled a utility knife out of his pocket and cut through the harness straps. Chase could hear the rhythmic thuds of Blades's propellor a little ways away as he and Dani found a stretch of street clear enough for the copter to land. The bots set the now slightly deflated bounce house out of the way in the corner of the yard.

"Stay down," Graham said, putting a hand on Huxley's chest as the reporter groaned, beginning to come out of his swoon.

"Wha- what have you done?" Huxley said, "This harness was a rental! I'm going to have to pay damages!"

"I'll show you damages," Kade said, "You _moron!_ Hey, policebot, what can we charge this guy with?" Chase quickly queried the database of human laws he had committed to memory.

"Possible charges," Chase began, in the stilted monotone humans considered properly 'robotic', "Public endangerment, criminal negligence, improperly operating a parachute without a license in violation of Section 105-"

"I am a reporter!" Huxley protested, Graham having to force him down as he tried to sit up, "It is my _journalistic duty_ to bring Griffin Rock the stories it-"

"Stupid stunts aren't journalism, you jacka-"

"That's enough Kade," Chief Burns said, putting a hand on his son's shoulder, "You're only agitating him. Huxley, you aren't going to be charged-"

"Well I should hope not!"

"-My daughter will be here in just a moment," the Chief continued, ignoring the excitable reporter's interjection, "And she's going to fly you to the mainland hospital for a medical evaluation. But you can _rest assured_ you and I will be having a 'word of prayer' regarding proper safety protocols on any future episodes of 'I Dare Me' within the next few days."

"Very well," Huxley grumbled. Chase assumed the human's 'adrenaline' was starting to wear off, and the pain he was no doubt feeling from the hard landing was beginning to register. The wood gate swung open and Dani jogged into the backyard, awkwardly manouevering the stretcher she carried under her arm through the entrance.

"How is he? Is he in pain? What injuries?" Dani asked, unfolding the backboard along side of Huxley.

" _Obviously_ I'm in pain, I just fell-"

"-he's _fine_ ," Kade interrupted, rolling his eyes.

"Kade," Chief Burns said, warningly. "Help me transfer him to the back board. Graham, can you please move to the side- thank you."

"Don't move your head," Graham said warningly, shifting around to make room for his father.

"Okay, now one, two, three-!" They transferred Huxley to the stretcher. Dani began strapping him down, immobilizing him to prevent any further injury. She unfastened the human's shirt buttons, and cut through the thin white shirt beneath it, ignoring Huxley's squawked protests as she taped two small wireless electrodes to his chest. A few taps on the small screen at the head of the backboard later, and Huxley's vital signs were displayed and monitored there.

"Graham, can you help open the gates so we can transfer him into Bla- uh, the air response bot smoothly?" Dani asked.

"You got it," he said, standing up and running ahead as Dani activated the hover function on the backboard and began guiding the levitating stretcher across the backyard, the newscaster's faithful camera following behind them.

"Hey Huckster, wouldja turn that thing off already?" Kade hollered after them. "Ugh, are you _sure_ you can't arrest him for wasting emergency resources?"

"We serve and protect, Kade," the Chief reminded him, "Even the citizens we don't much like."

"There _has_ to be a law against being willfully stupid for attention," Kade said. Heatwave snorted, folding his arms. "What was that, _robot_?" the human asked, looking over his shoulder and glaring. Heatwave rolled his optics.

"No-thing," Heatwave said, sarcasm dripping from his words even in his 'robot voice.' Kade's glare intensified, but he said nothing as the human civilians began to emerge from their home.

"Is the excitement over?" the grown woman asked from the doorway.

"Yes ma'am," the Chief said, "Hope we didn't make to much of a mess."

"That was _so cool!_ " one of human children enthused as the children ran past the woman back into the yard.

"We could see it on TV _and_ in the backyard, that was _crazy_!"

"I wanna do that! Can the robots catch me next?"

"I wanna climb on the firetruck ladder! Can I climb on the firetruck? It's my birthday, please please pleeeeease?"

"Hold on now," the Chief said, shepherding the children away from Heatwave, pulling off one girl who had managed to climb halfway up his leg, "I don't think the fire response robot's up for climbing on just now- after that rescue, I think it wants to go back to the firehouse and reboot."

"Af-firm-a-tive," Heatwave said, teeking grateful to have an excuse.

"But it doesn't have to move or anything!" one child said, "Can it please reboot while we play, we'll be really really careful not to get it dirty or anything, we promise!"

Kade was still glaring at Heatwave, and smiled at the child. "I don't-"

"-have time for that, unfortunately," the Chief interrupted, "It's already evening, and the sun'll set in an hour or so. We have to _take care of_ and _respect_ our equipment, and that means going back to the firehouse so we'll be ready when there's another emergency."

"Ugh, Chief Burns is right," Kade said. "Alright, we're gonna play another fun game, this one is called, 'Get back in the bounce house.'"

The children whined and grumbled as they were shooed away from the robots, but were drowned out by the thrumming of Blades's rotor as the copter took off.

"Alright, that must mean Graham is free," the Chief said. "Rescue Bots, get ready to roll out- and sorry again for the inconvenience, ma'am."

The woman waved them off cheerfully as they returned to the street and transformed into their altmodes, the human cake sticking uncomfortably between the seams of Chase's undercarriage. The Chief hopped into Chase as Graham jogged up and hoisted himself into Boulder's cab. Kade was already in Heatwave, taking a bite out of a sandwich he must've left in the firebot's cab.

"That went really well," the Chief said, "You all did excellent work. And I think Kade and Heatwave are starting to get along better."

"If passive-aggression can be construed as an improvement from open hostility," Chase said, starting his engine and letting the Chief steer him a little as they started down the street. The Chief laughed softly.

"I think we'll have to take what we can get with those two," he said. "I feel bad for Cody though- he and I were going to spend some time together this morning, you know, bond."

"Bond?" Chase asked, curious. "On Cybertron, newly formed mechs would imprint on a mentor, in order to learn their function. I do not believe you need to worry about reinforcing his 'bond' with you- Cody performs his function very well, and is an observant and clever dispatcher." The Chief made an odd noise, and did not seem pleased with the compliment.

"He's too young to be a dispatcher," the Chief said. "I wish I had more time outside of work to spend with him one-on-one, so he could learn what it means to be 'Cody Burns' and not 'support staff.'"

"I am not certain Cody cares when you spend time with him," Chase said hesitantly. "Forgive me if I overstep Chief, but as you have observed, Cody is very young. I think he mostly observes your work as 'normal' rather than 'dangerous', and is jealous of his siblings for having 'adventures' with you while he is at home. Even if he simply rode along with you on missions, I think he would enjoy that."

"Hm," the Chief said. "Problem is, no matter how much fun it looks to Cody, these really are dangerous missions with volatile technology- Lord knows he gets in enough danger by accident without me knowingly taking him places he'll get hurt. And routine patrol is safe, but a boy his age would probably get bored..." He drummed his fingers on the wheel, thinking aloud. "There are some missions though- island security ones, pretty routine, but could be fun for a kid, a little dangerous but not for hu- well," Chief Burns stopped himself midsentence and shook his head a little. "You really wouldn't mind having Cody ride along?"

"It would hardly be the first time I had a passenger," Chase said, "And it would be no hardship, seeing as we all enjoy Cody's company. He would be a good addition to our partnership."

"Partnership? You looking to replace me already, Chase?" the Chief asked.

"Of course not, sir!" Chase said. "Cody is not a sworn officer of the law- and further, as your subordinate, it would be improper for me to-"

Chief Burns laughed. "Don't worry Chase, I know what you meant. I was only teasing. Cody won't even be learning to drive for another five or six years, anyways."

"I see," Chase said, uncomfortable.  
He wasn't sure how their conversation had taken such a turn, and he didn't know what it meant for their partnership, but was afraid to ask for fear of appearing 'rude' or 'clingy.' The nuances of human family relationships still escaped him, and he set a mental reminder to prioritize obtaining information about them in the future.

"Let me go have a talk with Cody, and I'll speak with you bots in a little while," the Chief said, as they pulled into the garage.

"Understood," Chase said, transforming to root mode once his partner had left him. Boulder and Heatwave had already transformed, Heatwave with a particularly sullen expression on his face as they descended into the bunker. "Are you upset by the human children's persistent fascination with your ladder?" Chase asked.

"Kade left a sandwich in him," Boulder said as they stepped off the platform.

"Ah," Chase said. "Can you not reach it? I could attempt, or the Chief will return in-"

"I don't _care_ ," Heatwave interrupted, disingenuity clear from the growl in his vocalizer, " _I_ don't have chemoreceptors in there. If he wants his workspace to stink, that's _his_ problem."

Chase privately thought this was unlikely to be a successful strategy, and would likely only embolden Kade's habit, but did not comment since doing so was almost certainly unproductive and likely only to turn Heatwave's irritation on himself. The vehicle lift began to descend into the bunker with a familiar hum.

"Hey guys!" Blades said happily, hopping off to run up to them.

"You're back soon!" Boulder said.

"I mean, the mainland is only about six hics away," Blades said. "The hospital is like, twenty. And I don't wanna brag, but my new altmode is _super fast_ , so, y'know..."

"Guys, guess what!" Cody exclaimed, sliding down the firepole and practically leaping off of it. "Dad is taking me with him for his job tonight!" The human boy ran over to the back of the bunker, pulling out an old red trunk and rooting through it. The bots walked over, observing the excited child curiously.

"Chief is taking _you_ on a mission?" Heatwave asked, not quite able to keep the skepticism out of his voice. Fortunately, Cody didn't notice, continuing to pull out supplies.

"Just me and my dad!" he confirmed. "No brothers, no sister."

"No _us_ ," Blades said. "I feel _so_ abandoned."

"Don't take it personally Blades," Cody said.

"It's called 'father-son time.' I learned about it from a cereal box," Boulder helpfully explained.

"I read that cereal box as well," Chase said, "I learned that fiber promotes excellent digestive health." His mental reminder pinged, and he decided to see if the cereal box could be reobtained- in the past he had prioritized learning the physical function of humans, but it seemed he had missed some things.

Cody continued to enthuse about the mission, while Blades expressed concern for the little human. The term 'roughing it' did not appear to reassure him. Chase noticed a book in the old chest, and, thanking Primus once more for the ubiquity of human informational manuals, quickly ascertained that the activities Cody was describing were well within the expected tolerances for the young of his species.

"Cody, all set to head out for Griffin Crest?" the Chief asked, walking over.

"Ready Dad!" Cody said happily, and then nearly toppled over from the weight of his backpack.

"You _sure_ you don't want a ride?" Heatwave offered.

"No thanks Heatwave, you bots need to stay put," the Chief said sternly. "If there's an emergency, defer to Kade. He's in charge while I'm gone." Heatwave couldn't stifle an angry snarl at the news. Boulder looked at their team leader nervously, and offered to bring the Chief or Cody anything they forgot on the trip, hoping his helpfulness would distract from Heatwave's lapse of emotional control. The Chief only grew sterner.

"You're not to follow us, tail us, or join us," the Chief ordered. "Cody and I are going to a treacherous area that's _no place_ for bots."

"Bu-but what if you need us?" Blades asked, his concern now teeking as raw anxiety.

"Let me be clear- you are _not_ to cross Canyon Road into Griffin Crest. _Not_ under _any_ circumstances. Understood?"

"We will follow your orders to the letter of the law, Chief!" Chase said immediately, concerned by his partner's almost angry tone. He reminded himself of the times the Chief had included them in family activities, and of the Chief's concerns regarding his child's identity formation and bond with him. It was only for one night, he rationalized- just because it was a sudden change of routine was no reason to be upset. It was just that human-quick tempo again.

"Just please be sure to call and check in!" Blades said.

"I will!" Cody reassured him, extending his right thumb at the copter. The boy had finished reorganizing the heavy backpack and settled it more securely on his shoulders. "I'm ready to go when you are Dad!"

"Alright kiddo," the Chief said, face softening as he rustled Cody's hair. "Now we'll see you all tomorrow afternoon- you understand?"

"Yes," Boulder said.

"Even this crazy town can keep it together for _one_ night," Heatwave grumbled, clearly hoping he would not actually have to defer to Kade as leader.

"Alright then," the Chief said, staring him down, nodding. He wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders and the two walked toward the elevator. As they turned around, the Chief gave a smile, and he was definitely looking directly at Chase as he did. Chase couldn't keep the small peek of happiness out of his field at the gesture, as the door closed on the two humans.

"Got enough exhaust on your face?" Heatwave sneered.

"I beg your pardon," Chase said, pretending not to understand Heatwave's insult. Though hurt, he knew his team leader was just angry and feeling rejected. He did wish the firebot had a better outlet for his negative emotion routines than lashing out.

"Oh, this is neat, a field guide to recognizing organic life!" Boulder said, a little loudly, holding up the small illustrated book. Heatwave grumbled and paced off, still agitated, but the topic had been successfully changed. "Blades, you'd like this, the art is really well done and it's all of organic flight frames."

"Hm," the copter said, still teeking of anxiety, and clearly unsettled by the unexpected change, pacing to burn off his elevating charge. Boulder kept up a one sided conversation with his friend, while Chase began reading through the 'Lad Pioneer Manual' in earnest.

"Cody should _be_ there by now, why hasn't he called?" Blades said after nearly three breems, "What do you think Chief meant when he said Griffin Crest a 'treacherous area'?"

"He _meant_ he didn't want us around," Heatwave grumbled as his pacing brought him back over to their side of the room.

"This camping gear is fascinating- apparently 'roughing it' requires a lot of equipment!" Boulder said, trying to keep the tone light.

"Interesting," Chase said, hoping to help the construction bot with his conversational goals, "In addition to camping protocol, this text also lists the 'Dos and Don'ts of Knot Tying'."

"That book is Earth decades old," Heatwave said, still teeking of frustration but the hottest part of his anger subdued. He now just gave off old hurts that went back to how they were treated by the forged mechs that ran Base Sigma on Cybertron. Chase wished he knew how to reassure his team leader the humans did not view them as expendable, but did not want to reignite Heatwave's temper. Heatwave walked by Chase, looking over his shoulder as he continued, "Outdated information."

"Rules do not come with an expiration date," Chase said quietly. He looked down at the book, reading aloud. "Section one- slip knots."

"'Jerky making kit,'" Boulder said, continuing his running commentary on human equipment. "Oh, a self-starting campfire!"

"Bubble tent," Blades added, lifting up the tiny pod, finally starting to be won over by Boulder's relentlessly cheerful mood. "How is anyone supposed to fit inside _that_?" Boulder curiously prodded the little pod's release button, and was instantly swallowed by an enormous polymer sphere- and accidentally triggered the self-starting campfire, needing to be extinguished by Heatwave.

"If Boulder had read the manual accompaning the tent, he would've seen rule number three," Chase began, deciding to use this as a didactic moment for his somewhat impulsive teammates. He re-read the control instructions just to be certain, and deactivated the tent with the press of a button. "'Do not open indoors.'" The communication bar rang and flashed, and Blades ran over to the machine, teeking relief.

"I got it, I got it!" he exclaimed, activating the connection. "Hello?" The line connected with the crackle of static.

"---guys," Cody's voice cut in through the distortion, "---dangerous--- _huge_ bear that---!" The connection suddenly cut out.

"Hello, hello, Cody?" Blades asked, and turned back to his teammates, 'worry' turning to 'panic' on his faceplates.

"Did he say 'bear attack?'" Boulder asked, unable to disguise his fear.

"Chief? Come in!" Heatwave said, trying to raise the Chief on his comm. Chase walked over to Blades and redialed Cody's phone, only getting the automated messaging service. He felt concern, and tried to reassure himself. The Chief knew he was heading into a dangerous area, and he had explicitly said it was no place for bots- the humans had patrolled this area for many solar cycles prior to the bots arrival, and knew how to handle themselves-

"Somethings wrong," Heatwave said. "Rescue Bots, it's time to roll to the-!" Quickly, Chase stepped over to Heatwave, raising a hand in his leader's face to interrupt him.

"The Chief's explict orders were to remain here and _not_ follow, tail, or join him," Chase restated firmly.

"Okay, what about _rescue_ him?" Heatwave said, swatting Chase's hand away. "You like rules so much? Rescue Bots rule number one- help when needed!" The firebot stormed away, Boulder beginning to follow him.

"Chief assigned authority to Kade," Chase said, feeling badly for undermining Heatwave and knowing he would be angry, but needing to keep his team within protocol and out of danger. "We need _his_ permission before going to Griffin Crest!"

"The longer we argue the more danger Cody could be in!" Blades said.

"Fine," Heatwave growled, activating his comm again. "Kade Burns! Come in Kade!" He paused. "No answer. That settles it!"

"Wait, what about Graham? Or Dani?" Boulder asked.

"The _rules_ say we need _Kade's_ permission," Heatwave said.

"Which we did not receive, so we must remain here," Chase pressed. He was painfully aware of his status as a junior member of the team, but hoped being an Auxillary Enforcer still carried enough authority to win his teammates over.

"Wrong!" Heatwave said, and Chase's spark foundered. "Kade may be the leader of his team, but _I'm_ the leader of _mine_. Rescue Bots, roll to the rescue!" The others joined him on the vehicle lift. Chase was conflicted, and tried to work out what to do.

"I will follow your order, but only as far as Canyon Road, as per the _Chief's_ order!" Chase said, and joined them. Chase struggled to contain his own feelings of frustration and anger, and hoped that this would not standing with the team on future missions. He noticed he still held the strange human 'bubble tent' in his hands, and reached between his shoulders to tuck it in his trunk so it wouldn't clutter up his small subspace in which he had tucked the handbook for safe keeping.

They set off down the road, riding in tense silence for a long while. They were almost to Canyon Road when Chase felt compelled to speak again.

"It is not to late to turn back _or_ attempt to contact Kade again," Chase pointed out.

"We're going to help Cody, with or without you," Heatwave said, and Chase realized what the problem was. Chase trusted the Chief implicitly, not only because Chase loved him, and not only because the human treated him kindly, but because they had spent many joors talking and getting to know each other. He knew the Chief often deferred to his eldest because he was trying to give the younger man opportunities to learn leadership skills. But Heatwave didn't- he did not know the Chief very well, and only knew Kade as a rival, who all too frequently behaved like the kind of thoughtless, reckless leader who had treated cold-constructed mechs as disposable tools on Cybertron. Despite the Chief's words, Heatwave didn't really consider himself a member of the Burns family, and barely considered himself a part of their team, just waiting for Prime to reassign them. The only human Heatwave was really connected to was Cody, who was basically a newly forged hatchling, and was almost certainly triggering his protective coding at this moment. Chase felt overwhelmed by the worry pouring off of all of his teammates' fields, and guilty that he didn't feel the same instincts. It is because I trust the Chief, he asssured himself, and wished he knew how to make his teammates trust his partner too. He slammed his brakes, and watched his teammates drive away into the dark.

"Then it will have to be without me," Chase said, frustrated and sad and not knowing what else to do. "I cannot cross Canyon Road." Blades stopped to hover for a moment, turning to 'face' him.

"Sorry Chase," the copter said quietly, but flew away anyways. His teammates rounded the bend and disappeared from view, and Chase devoted his processor wholly to figuring out what to do next, ruthlessly shutting down worry provoked thought trees at their start. He was a little relieved when a few kliks later he heard the thudding of Blades's rotor stop, though the landing echoed a little louder than he would've expected. The former drillbot probably wasn't quite used to landing without a pilot, Chase thought, and wondered if that was something Dani could teach her partner. He hoped the quiet meant that the Chief and Cody hadn't gone too far up the mountain, and that his teammates had quickly run into them. Hopefully, they would be reassured and sent back, and wouldn't be in too much trouble. Chase rocked on his tires, waiting for his teammates to reappear- or to hear them move- or for them to comm him-

Unable to take it anymore, he transformed into root mode and activated his comm.

"Chase to Rescue Bots, come in Rescue Bots! What is your status?" There was nothing but the static that had swallowed up Cody. Chase dialled up his vocalizer as loud as he could, cupping his servos to help project. "Heatwave! Can you hear me?" Nothing but his own echo. He began pacing, thinking aloud to himself to keep his processor from getting ahead of itself. He reactivated his comm. "Chase to Kade, do you copy?" There was no static, but there wasn't any answer either. What was the next step according to protocol when primary communication channels had broken down? He connected his comm to the human cellular network to contact the after hours emergency phone.

"Emergency dispatch," Dani answered.

"Is Kade available?" Chase asked, hoping he remembered his phone etiquette correctly.

"Chase? Is that you? Why are you calling the emergency line?" Dani asked with a little laugh. Chase panicked. What could he say? Neither his teammates nor the Chief and Cody were actually, legally, missing yet, he was out of the firehouse in violation of standing protocol and direct orders, what if she ignored him, what if no one came, what if there really was a dangerous emergency in progress and there was no help, was he even allowed to call this number, what could he say-

"Code ten-seventy violation in progress at Canyon Road, bordering Griffin Crest!" Chase said, hoping his police protocol would go further with the human woman than it had on his teammates. Guiltily, he kicked over a litter bucket, scattering garbage alongside the road. "Require immediate backup from the entire team!" He deactivated the comm before Dani could press him for details, not wanting to lie further to her. He resumed his nervous pacing, mentally estimating how long it would take for the humans to get there- at least five kliks for Dani to get Graham, maybe a breem and a half to track down where Kade was and why he wasn't responding, at least two breems to reach Canyon Road... Finally, he saw the headlights of the old nonsentient firetruck appear on the road as Kade, Dani, and Graham reached him and hopped out. "I have violated a munincipal code, and am prepared to pay the price, but I could think of no other way to summon Kade and thereby induce him to override Chief's specific instructions."

"Uh, anybody follow that?" Kade asked his siblings. Chase paused and rephrased his summary into simpler terms.

"Cody and Chief may be in danger. Heatwave, Blades, and Boulder are currently attempting a rescue. However, I have not been able to contact them since they entered Griffin Crest."

"Griffin Crest? That's no place for bots, or any other tech!" Graham said, echoing the Chief's words. "Once you cross the boundary, it's a magnetic deadzone."

"Vehicle mode Chase, we have to get up there, now!" Dani said.

"To do that I would have to cross Canyon Road, a violation of Chief's specific orders!" Chase explained.

"Order over ruled, let's move!" Kade commanded.

"Finally," Chase said, and quickly transformed. Graham sat in the back behind Dani while Kade hopped in the driver's seat, grabbing the wheel to steer Chase over the dirt path. His map of the island showed it would be a short drive, less then five kliks, so Chase did not bother asking him to desist. Instead, he dialed down his internal sensitivity and kept most of his attention turned to planning and the external environment. Having someone else touch him was odd, and if this was how Kade always drove in emergencies he understood Heatwave's 'no touching' policy even better, but for him Kade's 'white knuckle' grip only produced feelings of pressure. Far down his priority tree, on a tertiary level, he registered pleasure and validation that his feelings for the Chief, both emotional and physical, were clearly founded on something deeper than novel sensation.

They found a hole in the fence where his teammates had broken through, and the humans hopped out as Chase quickly tranformed. Steam erupted from underneath the other bot's forms.

"They're frozen on top of Old Parker!" Graham exclaimed. Chase refocused his optics, and tried to scan for the human form Graham had identified, asking for clarification. "'He's' a super hot geyser, due to blow in three minutes!" Graham said, quickly referencing his tablet. Chase shifted back to altmode, glad the Chief had thrown two coils of rope in his trunk after they'd had to use Heatwave's hose as a rescue line a little too often for comfort. After the humans had pulled both out, he transformed back into root mode and pulled the Lad Pioneers Manual out of his subspace, reading through the knot tying guide again. He unspooled his towline, quickly detaching the hook and tying one of the ropes to it, and did a quick Double Fisherman to extend the towline. Turning, he returned to his altmode as Graham tightend the knots, and the human siblings ran into the geyser area to rescue his teammates.

His back to the crash site, Chase could only wait anxiously until he heard Kade call to him, letting him know the tow rope was secure. He floored it, fighing against the heavy weight of his teammates, but fortunately there was a slight incline leading up to the geyser- once he got them rolling, he was able to pull them to safety without too much difficulty. He quickly teeked his teammates to make sure they were alright, and was alarmed when he could only feel two of them.

"Where is Heatwave?" he asked.

"I'm going back for him now!" Kade said, charging ahead before being stopped by his brother.

"You can't, the geyser will erupt in seconds!"

Chase quickly retracted the tow rope and returned to root mode, reaching between his shoulders to pull out the little tent pod and mentally reviewing the manual, knowing this was Heatwave's only chance.

"Rescue Bot rule number one- help when needed," he said, calculating the distance between the fence and Heatwave. He took off at a run and leapt, thinking the track practice had been good for something after all, and crashed on top of his team leader.

"Chase, what are you doing!?" Heatwave exclaimed as the electromagnetic field shorted Chase's systems, causing him to collapse on top of the firetruck. "Now we'll both be destroyed!" Fighting to regain motor control, even for a moment, Chase managed to activate the bubble tent. Steam and boiling water gushed up around them, heating the air around them- but no water or vapor penetrated their plating, melting the efferent circuits beneath. They were undamaged.

"They're alright!" Dani exclaimed. "But- what _is_ that thing?"

"Bubble tent," Heatwave answered, though too quietly for the human to hear. "You brought it with you?"

"I didn't have time to return it to the chest," Chase said, "Though I am glad I did not. It has proven to be very useful."

"I'll say," Heatwave said. The quiet patter of human feet let them know their human partners were approaching.

"Damn! The deactivate button is too high to reach," Kade cursed. "Hey Graham, c'mere, lemme give you a boost."

"Wha- Kade! Put me down! We're gonna-"

"Reach! Just reach your noodly arms up and-"

Kade lost his footing as Graham flailed in his grip, stumbling backwards and letting go of his brother, leaving the engineer to slide down the side of the tent before crashing on the ground.

"Are you two dummies done?" Dani asked.

"Hey, I'm being proactive," Kade said. "We need to deactivate the tent so we can use Chase's tow rope to get them out before Old Parker goes off again or that bear shows back up. Hey, c'mere, you've got stronger core muscles than that nerd, you won't squirm as much-"

"Don't even think about it!" Dani said, "Besides, you forgot- we have two skeins of rope."

"How long is it?" Graham said.

"They are both two hundred feet long," Chase said, "And may I suggest a hitch knot?"

"Yeah yeah," Kade said, jogging around the bubble with one end of the rope in his hand. "I earned the Golden Egret, you know, I'm not a dumbass. Hey, Dani, go run that end to Boulder, lets haul these guys back in." He finished tying the knot, and testing it quickly, ran back to the fence. Slowly at first, they slid along the ground, and a klik later the horrible buzz of electromagnetic interference left their circuits and they could move again. Blades deactivated the bubble tent, and Chase leapt off of Heatwave. The firebot transformed to his root mode and looked at the policebot critically.

"Not that I'm ungrateful," Heatwave began, "But what in Primus's core made you think that tent would protect us?"

"I read the manual," Chase explained. "The rules of use clearly state 'this tent will withstand extreme temperatures.'"

"I guess rules can be useful once in awhile," Heatwave said.

"May I have that in writing?" Chase asked, only half teasing.

"Chief to Team Burns, do you copy?" Their comm systems came alive with the Chief's tinny voice.

"Dad! You and Cody okay?" Kade asked. "The bots said that you'd-"

"We're fine, we're on the other side of the ridge," the Chief said. Chase sharpened is optics, scanning the mountain path- and sure enough, he could see two human shaped infrared signatures in the distance. "That was great work, team! But I need you to repair your section of the fence, and see if you can chase that bear out of the magnetic zone."

"We're on it," Kade said.

"What about you two?" Dani asked.

"Cody and I still have something important to take care of. Chief out," and the line went dead again.

"Alright, you heard him," Kade said. "So how are we going to get rid of the bear?" The hot steam and general commotion had scared it off, but it was back again, pacing around the far side of the geyser and growling.

"I believe step one should be all of you getting in your partner's cabs," Chase said. "You are significantly more vulnerable to mauling than we are."

"Good idea," Graham said, and the other bots shifted to their altmodes.

"Oh man! Maybe we can use the sandwich to lure it out of there," Kade said, opening the door and pinching his nose.

"Please pass it to me," Chase said, extending his hand. Kade did so and hopped into Heatwave, shutting the door. Though slightly muffled by metal, Chase could hear him talking to his partner.

"And don't even start, okay, I've learned my lesson about leaving food in you, blah blah blah."

"Whatever, let's just do this," Heatwave grumbled as he transformed to root mode.

"Here beary beary bear..." Boulder said, waving at the animal while Chase dangled the sandwich in front of the hole in the fence. Slowly, the bear turned towards the opening in the gate, creeping towards them- and then it was charging.

"Frag!" Heatwave swore, jumping to the side of the fence as the bear ran through it. Chase leapt back, almost losing his footing on the gravelly ground as he kept moving to lead it away from the magnetic zone, and to keep out of reach of its claws.

"Chase, throw the sandwich away and set off your sirens!" Graham called over the comms. Blades and Boulder had moved to block the opening in the fence with their bodies to prevent the bear from returning to the area. Chase threw the sandwich into the woods and flashed his lights at the large Earth animal, his siren wailing, provoking an angry roar in response that was quickly drowned out by a jet of water. Heatwave stood behind him, firing his hoses at the bear. It reared up on its hindlegs, but one last roar later and it turned, running into the forest.

"Okay, so bear duty, check!" Blades said. "Now we just have to take care of the fence."

"Ugh," Kade groaned as he and his siblings hopped back out of their partners' cabs, "Okay, it looks like the fence is still mostly intact, so once we get the posts upright again, it should be pretty easy to reattach the section. Do we have nails?"

"I do," Boulder said, pulling his repair kit out of his subspace. Opening the case, he narrowed his optics at the nails in the still standing wall sections, trying to match the scale. "If you all get the materials out of the magnetic zone, I can use my nail gun to reattach the fencing."

"Awesome," Kade said, stretching his arms as the humans walked over to the fence section. "Okay, you two take the left side, warn me if you're gonna drop it, and try to keep up. Now on three, one, two-"

"Oh my god Kade, stop acting like Graham and I are weenies just 'cause we don't drink your nasty protein powder crap, you meathead, this isn't even _that_ heavy," Dani grunted as the siblings started shuffling over towards the hole in the fence.

"This isn't about protein powder, it's about the fact I could absolutely bench you."

"We aren't benching, we're lifting, and everyone knows you lift with your legs, and I know for a _fact_ you skip leg day, and leg for leg, I could absolutely kick your butt."

"Okay, so first of all, lifting measures the strength of your back, _secondly_ , have you _seen_ my calves? Are these the calves of a man who skips leg day? You're a total liar and-"

"Could you two _please_ be quiet and save this argument for literally any other time?" Graham asked in exasperation as they awkwardly rotated through the opening, flipping the fence section vertical. Dani and Kade continued ribbing each other under their breaths as they grabbed the fence posts and got them back in their post holes, kicking gravel and dirt in around the sides to stabilize it, while Graham held up the fence section. When everyone was on the right side of the fence, Boulder performed a microtransformation on his left hand to a nail gun and popped the panel on what was once his palm to load nails from his tool case. A few quick pops later, and the fence was reaffixed to its posts. Boulder shook his hand a few times before transforming it back.

"That EM field really tingles!" he said, wriggling his fingers to check the servos.

"Ugh, okay, great job," Kade said. "You bots write some kind of reports, right?"

"Yes," Heatwave said testily, "We're professionals after all."

"Oh my god," Kade said, "Can you stop? I need to write an incident report about this and I needed to know if you would already have a report I could reference or if, like, I'd have to take a statement or whatever."

"Don't act like this is all on us," Heatwave said, "If you had been in radio contact there wouldn't have _been_ an incident."

" _Oh my god_! I know! Why do you think I'm _writing_ a report? I _recognize_ that I'm resposible and crap, I _understand_ that if I hadn't silenced my radio whatever the _hell_ happened tonight would've gone down differently, but you need to _stop_ acting like I'm the bad guy here and get that _I have no idea what happened_! One minute I'm watching a movie with Hayley, the next Dani's calling me up because Chase is committing _misdemeanor littering_ , and then you're being attacked by a _bear_!"

"You shouldn't be the leader!" Heatwave snapped, "I was a squad leader on Cybertron for longer then your species has _existed_! If I had been given actual information to base my decisions off of-"

"I can write the report," Chase interrupted, hoping to defuse the situation, "It's no trouble, I have a form preformatted for human computers-"

"Don't try to redirect, Chase," Heatwave said, "If your organic hadn't been a mechanophobe and had _trusted_ me-"

"Do not call the Chief an organic," Chase said.

"It's what he is!" Heatwave yelled.

"Heeeeey, guys? Um, maybe we should go back to the firehouse, and we can write the report in the morning and maybe we can stop fighting? Please?" Blades asked tentatively, clearly nervous from fighting.

"Yeah, I think everyone's still really keyed up and stressed out, and maybe it's best to just sleep on it, for now," Graham agreed.

"We don't _sleep_ ," Heatwave said angrily, but exvented heavily and visibly forced his anger down. "Fine. Ugh. Don't ride in me, I can't handle it right now." He transformed and set off down the road. There was a moment of hesitation, and Blades and Boulder both transformed as well.

"Dani, we need to be careful, okay? I hurt my canopy when I fell on Boulder and I'm worried my rotor'll get wobbly," Blades warned.

"No problem," Dani said, patting his windshield, "We'll take it low 'n slow all the way back."

"You're okay too?" Graham asked Boulder.

"Yeah," Boulder said, "I don't have any vital components in my roof." Boulder started his engine as Graham hopped in and rumbled down the road after Heatwave, while Chase and Kade stepped back to give Blades and Dani room to take off.

"Fantastic," Kade grumbled. "Hey Chase, give me a lift back to Canyon Road?" Chase nodded, and transformed, popping his door open. Kade dropped into the driver's seat and shut the door a little more forcefully then was comfortable. He crossed his arms across the top of Chase's steering wheel and dropped his head against them, making some guttural sound of frustration. He suddenly jerked back, dropping his hands in his lap. "Sorry," he said, "Habit."

"It's quite alright," Chase said.

"Heatwave hates it," Kade said, and made another guttural sound, though shorter this time. "Christ. How is this my life? All I wanted to be was a firefighter, man. And now I'm talking to a car about my freaking domestic disputes with a truck at," he paused, eyes tracking to Chase's chronometer, "Nine thirty six at night."

Chase wasn't entirely sure what the time had to do with anything, but humans were a diurnal species. Perhaps events that violated their circadian rhythm had increased emotional significance for them.

"I cannot 'give you a lift' until you fasten your safety belt," Chase said as gently as he could. "It's the law."

"Yeah yeah," Kade said, clicking the belt shut. Turning on his headlights, Chase began to wind his way down the unpaved quarter mile to Canyon Road. "Seriously though, why does Heatwave get pissed at me no matter what I do? And what was that whole 'I'm older than your species' crap?"

"It is mostly a temperament mismatch," Chase hedged. "You are... volatile, and Heatwave is sensitive. Despite being very brave and hard working, he had to fight for a leadership position for centuries because forged mecha viewed cold constructed mecha as tools because we were purpose-built. Having to defer to you is hitting some very old sore spots. And Heatwave was exagerrating for rhetorical effect. At the time of the Exodus, he was approximately seventy nine thousand Earth years old, and anatomically modern homo sapiens are generally estimated to be one hundred thousand- of course, we were in stasis for four million years, so technically it _was_ before-"

"Whoa! What the _hell_!?" Kade exclaimed. "Chase, you can't just say, 'Oh, by the way, your truck is eighty thousand years old' like that's _normal_."

"It is very normal for our species," Chase said. "Assuming we are in good repair and do not succumb to cybercrosis, we are theoretically immortal. And even before the defeat of Mortilus and the dawn of the Golden Age, our species could live for hundreds of thousands of Earth years."

"But- jeez, I thought you guys were brand new robots," Kade said, still sounding shocked.

"That is just our cover story. Though to be fair, we are fairly young for our species," Chase said. He slowed down as they reached Canyon Road and Kade's old firetruck still parked on the side of the road. Kade shook his head slowly, seemingly in disbelief.

"Well that's BS," Kade swore. "He's been a leader for _literal centuries_ and he's whining cause I get a turn for one lousy night? He can wait his turn- he can wait my whole damn life, as far as I'm concerned. Eighty _thousand_ years, what does he care, a human life is like a _fly_ to you guys."

"It is not," Chase said vehemently. "Your life is not equivalent to a fly's, and although we experience more time than your species we do not cognitively experience a compression but perceive its passage in a manner equivalent to the human experience, only-"

"Blah blah blah," Kade interrupted. "I don't care about cognitive whatever Chase, I'm no good with that kind of crap. Eighty _frickin'_ thousand. Do you know what that is? Immature. If _I_ was eighty thousand years old, I wouldn't constantly backtalk a twenty-one year old, I'd let him have his turn to figure things out."

"Heatwave is slightly less than seventy-nine thousand years old," Chase quietly corrected, beginning to worry he had made things worse.

"Oh, excuse _me_. Y'know, you 'n dad have the right thing going- you shut up and let him drive, and I respect that."

"Perhaps," Chase began, desperate to salvage the mess he had unintentionally made, "If you showed Heatwave more respect, he would trust you more when you made decisions-"

"Respect has to be earned, and he's not gonna earn it by acting like a brat," Kade said, "But whatever, I'll figure something out. Good talk, dude." He reached over and thumped Chase's dash twice. Chase felt a bolt of alarm shoot through him.

"Do not do that," Chase said.

"Hey, sorry," Kade said, lifting his hands up in the air. "I figured it was okay since it wasn't your wheel, and I've seen Dad do it-"

"That is between Chief Burns and I. I am not comfortable sharing that aspect of our relationship with you," Chase said, then fearing he was coming across too harshly, added, "Sorry," at the end. Kade still winced.

"Don't say 'relationship' like that, man," he said, "It, uh, implies things you don't mean to imply."

"I don't?" Chase asked.

"You don't," Kade said firmly. "But whatever, thanks. You're a pretty cool guy, for a car. And I really am sorry I screwed up this evening."

"Many mistakes were made," Chase said diplomatically, and guiltily added, "I believe you have misunderstood my remarks about Heatwave's age and origins, and I do not know how to rectify them at this time. I can only ask that you do not let my comments change the way you treat him, and to exercise discretion when talking about our conversation."

"Sure, whatever," Kade agreed, and unbuckled the belt. "I'll see you back at the firehouse."

"Alright," Chase said. Kade got out of him and hopped in the nonsentient vehicle, and Chase drove away to give Kade room to do an awkward three point turn on the narrow road.

It was a quiet and slightly lonely drive back to the firehouse without anyone to talk to. Chase was almost certain Heatwave was going to fight with him when he got back to the garage, and he wasn't looking forward to it. He wished the Chief was with him, to talk to and reassure him. But he wasn't, and Chase would just have to deal with that. He pulled into the garage, and went into the bunker. Boulder was sitting on the ground, and to his right Heatwave was sat on a crate, right arm extended, while Blades fussed over it, one of the medkits from the ship open beside him.

"Are you injured?" Chase asked.

" _Someone_ drove home on a flat tire, and if his wheel is dented I'm gonna have to replace it with human parts, and they have _terrible alloys_ that are _not_ aren't gonna graft well-"

"My wheel is fine!" Heatwave grumbled, interrupting Blades's litany, "Stop nagging and replace the tire."

"I'm _stopping_ ," Blades said, and pulled the popped tire off of Heatwave's wheel. He traced his fingers along it, checking for irregularities. Heatwave gave a slight growl, and couldn't suppress a shiver at the touch. "I guess you're okay," Blades said, "Which is really good! I still wish we had more spare parts- spare Cybertronian parts, I mean," he pressed the new tire onto Heatwave's frame, and picked up a lugnut and medical wrench. "Okay, now hold very very still," he said, and started tightening the first nut.

Chase shifted on his pedes, "Would you like me to write the primary report, and you can add on what happened when we separated as a supplemental? Or should I-"

"No, Chase, I don't want you to write anything," Heatwave said. Chase tensed. Although Heatwave seemed calm and still, he could feel the irritation rolling off of him.

"Have I don't something wrong?" Chase asked. Heatwave exvented.

"No. But you're compromised, and you always send a copy of your reports to the Chief," Heatwave said.

"As is standard protocol, since Chief Burns is our direct supervisor," Chase said, not sure what Heatwave meant by compromised.

" _Wrong_ ," Heatwave said, voice tightly controlled. " _I_ am your direct supervisor, _I_ answer to Optimus Prime, and I obey Chief Burns because my direct supervisor, _our Prime_ , ordered me to. And if Prime has any sense at all, he'll countermand that order soon enough."

"You are being irrational. Chief Burns is a good leader who cares for us, and you are just-"

" _We nearly died tonight because of him_!" Heatwave snapped. "Primus, what is _wrong_ with you? Do you have _no_ emotional routines?"

"I have many," Chase said, hurt and anger leaking into his field, "And you nearly died tonight because you disobeyed the direct order of a superior."

"We nearly died because he didn't _tell us_ he was going into a geothermically unstable area with no comms and an electromagnetic field that would fry our circuits the nanoklik we set foot in it!" Heatwave yelled. His field lashed against Chase, barraging him with hurt, and anger, and fear. " _Think_ Chase, for one fragging nanoklik, would you? Why didn't he _tell us_ about the magnetic zone? Why did he keep it a secret?"

"He trusted us to trust him in turn and to obey his express orders."

" _Because he wanted to use it against us._ He didn't tell us about a place on the island that kills tech _because he wanted to be able to kill us_. That isn't _trust_ , Chase. He doesn't trust us, and you shouldn't trust him either. Actually, as your superior, I'm ordering you not to. From now on, you answer to me first, clear?"

"You cannot make that order," Chase said, "It is a clear violation of the protocols regarding chain of command, as well as the standards of freedom of conscience established in the Autobot Code Section Nineteen, Subsection Seventy-nine, Paragraph-"

" _What is the matter with you_? Why aren't you listening to me?" Heatwave demanded.

"Stop _moving!_ " Blades said emphatically, "I can't get leverage if you squirm! Just two more nuts, okay?" He patted Heatwave's shoulder, shooting a nervous look at Chase, and went back to tightening.

"Chase might be affected by compliance coding," Boulder suggested quietly in the sudden lull. "Most Enforcers had it hard coded into them, and it makes it really difficult to move outside of an explicit command chain."

"You doubt the Chief's integrity as well?" Chase asked, sadly. Boulder shrugged.

"I mean, I'm not really mad. I get why he'd want to keep that up his sleeve. We're so much bigger and stronger than organics, and even though we're non-combatants, if we wanted to... I mean, if we were bad guys..." he shrugged. "I mean, I kind of get it. I guess I'm sad about it. It's messed up he didn't tell us why we couldn't follow him to Griffin Crest, it's messed up he didn't make it clear how dangerous the magnetic zone was, and it was irresponsible of him to take Cody into such an unstable area with no comms and not make sure the check in went through, even though he knew we'd worry."

"You are all wrong. Chief Burns does not want to harm us," Chase said, "And I am _not_ under the influence of my compliance coding as I say this."

"I don't get you," Heatwave said, looking away from Chase, his field ceasing its emotional flare and retreating into a kind of apathetic anger. "You and me worked together for _vorns_. We lived on Sigma Base together for centuries. And you know this organic for all of a decaorn and suddenly you're more loyal to him than me? What's going on, if it's not compliance coding? What's he done?"

"He..." Chase felt his vocalizer seize up, and he was overcome with a wordless emotional pulse he viciously stamped down before it reached his field. "He is kind to me," he said lamely.

"What are you, a kicked turbofox?" Heatwave asked bitterly. "That's all it takes to buy you? A pat on the head and a 'good boy'?"

"I'll be in the garage," Chase said stiffly, "My presence is clearly unconducive to rest," he stepped back onto the vehicle lift and paused before activating it. "Blades, please ensure Heatwave makes use of the stasis pods for full defrag, or at least manages several joors of recharge. You have all been through a traumatic event, and it would appear the unprocessed memory files are disrupting your emotional processes and rational thought trees." As he ascended into the garage, he could vaguely hear Blades saying he had a point and Heatwave grumbling in response.

The nonsentient firetruck was parked in the rear of the garage, as usual. Faintly, through the door, he could hear the Burns siblings chatting with each other, over the low sounds of TV audio and the high pitched hum of electronics. He walked over and patted the top of the firetruck. Heatwave had been so surprised when he'd saved him- he'd teeked of relief and gratitude and trust. He had apologized for breaking the rules and not listening to Chase. Danger had a way of clearing the processor- all of this talk was just clutter. Once Heatwave realized Kade had been willing to risk his life to save him, and trusted his own human partner the way Chase trusted the Chief- once they realized the Chief hadn't told them about the dangers at Griffin Crest because- because- his processor skipped, unable to complete the thought, and the stress shook him from his reverie. He realized his idle pat had turned dangerously close to a caress, and he jerked his hand back, stalking over to the opposite corner at the front of the garage and transforming.

He was being entirely too self-indulgent, and appalingly sentimental. Chase began to mentally compose his own, private report. It was important to account for his own actions, regardless of Heatwave's orders on the matter. Eventually, the Burns house fell quiet. Dani and Blades were assigned to the nightshift tonight, but so far no more calls had come in. It was still several joors till dawn. Hopefully it would be a quiet night. He considered going back downstairs- but he knew he would have to talk to the others, and- well, until Chief Burns returned and there was new information about what happened, they were just going to have the same discussion, Chase thought, rationalizing his reluctance. His mental reminder pinged, since he had no prioritized processes supressing it, and he had free time for research. Cringing internally when he realized there were no books in the garage, he reluctantly began the somewhat unsettling process of pinging the human wi-fi connection. 

He did not generally like using it except for simple one way file transfers, but he began the awkward process of querying the 'web' for information on human partnerships. Most of it was legal information, which seemed promising, but he quickly realized was largely irrelevant. Neither he nor the Chief were 'lawyers'. He broadened his search terms, and found a wealth of information of human families- cross-cultural studies on all the different possible arrangements, childrearing manuals, autobiographical 'web logs'- all of it available for free, to anyone who wanted it, no archive moderator controlling his downloads! He felt greedy as he downloaded as many files as caught his eye, parsing the text and cross-referencing key terms using his own indexing routines- until he realized, reluctantly, that he was only distracting himself, not actually gaining salient information about his relationship with Chief Burns, nor even really about Chief Burns and his children- and wasn't that a discovery? A child was not merely a category of ages, equivalent to a hatchling or newspark- it was also a state, unchanging. Cody was a child to everyone, on account of his age- this, he already knew- but Kade was Chief's child, despite having reached the age of majority, because of their relationship. Chase reached as far back into his memory as he could, recalling his very earliest memories of onlining surrounded by his batch-initiators and batch-mates. His mentor had been Detector, one of the secondary batch-initiators, a very competent mech and a good worker- but what would it have been like to have a relationship with him beyond his imprinting? What would even have been the _point_? Was this what he had with Chief Burns? He had attuned to him for his repatterning model- it was not _unlike_ imprinting- but was it like 'parenting'?

No, he thought. The Chief had classified them as partners- as good partners- as _intimate_ partners, even, he thought with a sharp pulse of his spark. He queried the internet with the term 'intimate partnership', supressing his embarassment. This was _so taboo_ , one didn't just _talk_ about personal relationships- a good citizen would've been contented with their work partnerships and their societal role, not gone hoarding some overly sentimental, frivolous, private pairing for themself. Endura relationships had fallen out of favor among forged mechs ages ago, and for a cold-constructed mech like Chase- and never mind a minicon like Trigger- forming an amica bond had probably been the most radical thing he had ever done in his existence. And he was even _thinking_ of doing it _again_?

Chase didn't download the results with the same abandon as he had the more general family documents. Each time, he expected someone to stop him- and indeed, the first time his download had been halted by a filter on the internet service provider, his spark had peaked. He could probably have circumvented the filter if he had the time and inclination, but he did not want to enmesh himself with the human network more than was necessary- and besides, after today, the last thing he wanted to do was break the rules. The metadata suggested it had been blocked because of its depictions of the incompatable biological acts Chief had alluded to previously, so Chase marked the page as irrelevant and moved on. Every species was entitled to its secrets, after all. His reading speed was slower, and he made sure he absorbed the information rather than simply accumulate it. Indeed, different kinds of human intimate partnerships seemed to correspond with the different endura bonds, though human relationships seemed much more volatile than Cybertronian bonds- perhaps because of the speed with which they were formed and lived out, Chase speculated. The odd word Chief had used in reference to partnership, 'marriage' cropped up all over the documents he examined and Chase's circuits had nearly shorted when he saw the context and implications of the term. For the Chief to have alluded to something so personal, so intimate, when they had known each other for less than a metacycle- for barely more than a _decaorn_ even! Still, the unusual volatility of human relationships had an upside. Nervously, he began examining the multitude of allusions to conflict and its resolution. He didn't want the surely uncomfortable conversation he would have to have stymied by cultural misunderstandings.

Fortunately, that night shift was quiet. No calls came in. All too soon, it was dawn. The garage door opened not long after.

"Chase!" Cody exclaimed running up, throwing his hands across the span of Chase's hood, in mimickry of an embrace.

"It is good to see you well, Cody," Chase said. Gently, he rocked on his wheels, and Cody stepped back, allowing Chase to return to his root form and kneel down, reaching out to him. He very gently wrapped his fingers around Cody's torso, and Cody reciprocated, hugging Chase's thumb. He could feel the tiny pump in Cody's chest cavity thump against his fingers, reassuringly steady.

"I thought for sure you and Heatwave were gonna get sprayed by Old Parker!" Cody said. "It sure was lucky you had that bubble thing."

"It was, indeed, very lucky," Chase agreed.

"Dad told me that magnetic field makes tech stop working! It didn't hurt you, did it?" Cody asked worriedly. Chase couldn't quite stop his optics from sliding over to the Chief, watching them with a neutral facial expression a few steps behind his son.

"Only a little," Chase said, "And I am perfectly fine now." Glancing again at the Chief, he said to Cody, "There was a significant amount of interference with your call, and we believed you were in imminent danger. I believe the others would be as relieved as I am to see for themselves you are unharmed."

"Oh no!" Cody said. Chase let go of him, and Cody turned to his father. "I'm gonna go check on them before I go shower, okay?"

"That's fine, son," the Chief said. 

"Talk to you later, Chase!" Cody said happily, giving Chase a wave before darting across the garage, backpack bouncing on his back, and hopping onto the firepole and sliding down. Vaguely, Chase could make out Blades's excited tone of voice echoing up from the small hole to the bunker.

"Well? I assume you wanted to speak with me privately," Chief said, stepping closer to Chase.

"Ah, yes sir," Chase said, hesitating. He was still on one knee. It would be more formal to rise to his full height, but it seemed awkward. The Chief lifted his arms up. Chase looked at him, confused.

"Cody gets a hug, and I don't?" the Chief asked, teasingly.

"Yes sir," Chase said, reaching out automatically. The Chief was broader than Cody. He had no backpack, and Chase could feel the muscles of his back ripple as he lifted his arms to rest them on top of Chase's fingers, squeezing them slightly.

"Pick me up," the Chief said. "I want to hug you properly."

"Chief?" Chase asked, surprised. He had never picked up a human outside of an emergency before.

"Come on," Chief prompted him. Chase carefully lifted him up, quickly putting his left hand beneath his human partner's feet for support, to avoid straining his upper extremities. Chief extended his arms out, and Chase drew him closer, till their chests were pressed together. Chief wrapped his arms around Chase's neck, his the side of his face pressed against Chase's jaw. Chase carefully shifted his hand so his fingertips were no longer trapped between them, his palm flat on the Chief's back.

"I thought you were dead," the Chief said calmly. "I thought we'd watched you and Heatwave die. Cody asked me if you were dead. I didn't even know what to say to him."

"I feared for you as well," Chase said. "When we receive the call, we thought you and Cody were being attacked by a bear. I tried to trust in you and your orders but- I feared for you. And yet you are well, and I am well."

"Mm," the Chief hummed in agreement, shifting his grip on Chase's neck. "Can you feel me, like this?"

"Yes," Chase said, answering the obvious, and then realized what the Chief meant. "Yes," he repeated, focusing on the feeling of the Chief's strange, staticky EM field pressed closely to his processor. The Chief shifted a little in his grasp, and unwrapped his arms, pushing against Chase's chest, prompting Chase to not hold him so close so they could look each other in the optics.

"Just wanted to do that, let you know how relieved I am, before we talked," the Chief said. "We're about to have an awkward conversation, aren't we?"

"Unfortunately," Chase said.

"What the _hell_ were all of you doing out there?" the Chief asked, voice calm but emphatic. "I told you all not to follow us- you said you thought we were in danger, but Kade should've stopped you all."

"There was a failure to communicate," Chase said, and hesitated. "Sir, you recently gave me freedom of speech, and I am afraid I must now use that liberty in a way you might not like."

The Chief was impassive. He should've felt small in Chase's hands, fragile, but his gaze was terrifying. "Go on then," the Chief said. Chase exvented.

"There were multiple points of communicative breakdown last night," Chase began, "Kade turned off his radio while in a film. Cody's cell phone broke up so we did not receive an accurate message and were unable to contact for clarification. But the first and most damaging miscommunication began with you. You did not explain the nature of the electromagnetic distortion around Griffin Crest, even though your children's responses indicate it is no secret. Our team's ability to evaluate risks and develop an appropriate response to threat was compromised by your choice not to disclose this information, for no reason save, apparently, feeling my teammates' questions were a challenge to your authority. This has led to a breakdown in trust to the point the others now believe you withheld the information in order to kill them, if you felt you had to." The Chief did not outwardly react to these words, but Chase could feel the pump in his chest speed up. Chase continued, "You should've explained the reasons for your orders. It is unreasonable to expect unquestioned obedience. You have often claimed we are your family, but we are _not_ your children. We're your partners. We are a fully trained rescue team in our own right, choosing to cooperate with your team, and that cooperation has been damaged by your withholding information yesterday. And, I am afraid, if you do not take actions to remediate this rupture, I will be forced to file a formal complaint with Optimus Prime." A gesture that would probably be futile, Chase thought grimly, but the only gesture he could make. He had said his piece. The response was now the Chief's to make.

The human was silent for several long nanokliks. "Chase," he began, voice congested, then cleared his throat, pinching the bridge of his nose, and then blinking hard. "You're right," he said. "Thank you for your reprimand. I know that must've been hard for you to say. I- I could've lost you today, and it would've been- my fault. I'm sorry." Chase nodded, unsure what to say. The Chief smiled at him, but did not seem happy. "I know I called you my best partner, but truth is, I haven't had one- not in twenty years, at least, since I became the chief of police after Hank Guthrie retired. I've had a few people join the force, but they always left after a couple years- couldn't handle the stress. And trying to handle people assigned here by the county, people who don't understand the town, weren't flexible enough- as scary as it was putting my kids in the field, it was a relief just having people I could rely on. But they're not my partners. And I do trust you- I _want_ to trust you- even when I was a kid- I love my father, but he worked seventy, eighty hours a week, and my mother- and my _brother_ -" he sighed and shook his head. "I'm a little too used to relying on myself, I think. I've never told anyone any of this, I'm sorry if I'm not making sense."

"You've never told anyone else?" Chase repeated, unable to hide the flare of surprised pleasure in his field. The Chief shivered a little in reaction as the field hit him.

"It's personal, not the sort of thing you disclose to just anyone," the Chief explained.

"Disclose..." Chase said, and it was a _coincidence_ that the Chief used the same word as the second act of the ritus conjunx, exchanging personal data did _not_ have the same meaning among humans as it did for Cybertronians, he was being _absurd_ \- but still, "Thank you for trusting me with this information," Chase said. The Chief smiled at him, the expression more honest this time, and let his hands rest on Chase's fingers, touching him the way he touched his wheel.

"I do trust you, Chase," he said. "Now set me down. I need to go wrangle Cody, and have an awkward conversation with our teammates."

"Yes sir," Chase said. He carefully set his partner on the ground, unable to resist running his fingers down his back as he pulled his hand away, the way he sometimes pet Cody when the human boy was being cuddly. The Chief quirked an eyebrow at him and stepped onto the vehicle lift. Chase followed him and triggered the lift, sending it down.

Cody's pack was dumped haphazardly beside the red chest of camping gear, and Boulder was seated on the ground, Blades and Heatwave standing nearby, Cody seated on Boulder's knee exuberently explaining how his night of camping had gone.

"At a good place to finish your story, Cody?" the Chief asked. Cody nodded happily.

"Just about!" he said. Blades looked at Chase and Chief and then at Heatwave, nervousness playing across his faceplates. Heatwave, for his part, was hiding his anger well, but it was shot through his field. Chase winced a little- surely, even an EM blind species like humans would be able to tell, though the Chief gave no signs of reacting.

"I think I owe all of you an apology," the Chief said, addressing, the other Rescue Bots. "When I give you an order in the field, I expect you all to follow it. That rule is in place to coordinate our efforts, and keep everyone safe. Unnecessary questioning can be dangerous in an emergency. But you all are experienced and curious professionals, and I need to do better at providing you with enough information for you all to do your jobs, and questions outside of missions are an important part of that process. I was so preoccupied with fulfilling my paternal obligation to Cody, I failed in my responsibilites as your superior officer to keep you all safe. I take full responsibility for the mistakes of last night, and hope you all can forgive me."

"Uh," Blades said. Boulder's optics were very large, and even Heatwave looked taken aback. It was unheard of for a superior to abase themself in such a way on Cybertron.

"Thanks, Chief," Boulder said. The Chief nodded at him in acknowledgement.

"Heatwave," he said, "I'd appreciate the chance to speak with you, leader to leader, about what happened last night, and how we can approve the coordination between our teams. Do you have any free time in the next day or two?"

"I- yeah, whenever, you know my schedule," Heatwave said. He shifted on his pedes. "I already sent an initial report to your electronic mailbox- carbon copied Kade on it, he's writing his own incident report or something..." The Chief hummed and pulled his phone out of its holster on his belt, opening his mail client and skimming through the report on the small screen. He glanced over at Chase.

"You committed misdemeanor littering?" he asked. Chase nodded, flustered.

"I was not attempting to- to obfuscate or, hide my wrongdoing, when I did not speak of it earlier I simply- simply thought it appropriate to confess my actions after speaking to you about more pressing matters, and I didn't know how else to justify a response from the rest of the team, which is no excuse for lawbreaking, obviously, but-"

"For future reference, feel free to just ask for backup," the Chief said, "I'm sure the kids know to come when you call, but I'll clarify that with them if you're nervous. And I suppose telling you there were clearly mitigating circumstances and letting you off with a warning is still going to smack of nepotism and not satisfy your sense of justice and have you jumpy and nervous for days, am I right?"

"I- perhaps, yes," Chase admitted.

"Alright," the Chief said. "It's your misdemeanor, Chase. Ordinarily I'd issue a hundred dollar fine, but seeing as you have no currency- does twenty hours of community service picking up litter seem like a fair punishment?"

"Yes sir," Chase said, "With your permission, I'll begin immediately-"

"Permission withheld," the Chief said. "Let me take a quick shower and get some breakfast, and we'll knock out a couple hours before patrol."

"Sir? Do you wish to supervise me?"

"We're a team, Chase. What you do, I do. Besides, I reckon I could do with a little community service myself," the Chief said wryly. He looked back to Heatwave. "This looks like a thorough report. Thank you for writing it. I'll speak with you at eight, after dinner, barring an emergency, if that's acceptable to you?"

"Yeah," Heatwave said, begrudgingly. "That's fine." The Chief nodded, and gestured for Cody to come over to him. Cody hopped off of Boulder and ran over to his father. Far from seeming embarrassed, he looked at his father with a kind of awe written on his face.

"C'mon kiddo, let's get the woodsmoke out of your hair," he said, slinging an arm across his son's shoulders and leading him towards the elevator.

Heatwave was staring at Chase. "You spoke with him," he said, not quite accusing him. Chase nodded slightly.

"I reprimanded him. Informally, of course, but- unless you think it still necessary- I don't intend to file a formal complaint."

"You reprimanded him. _You_. Reprimanded a superior office- one you're all weirdly attached to, at that," Heatwave said, incredulous.

"He granted me freedom of speech some time ago," Chase said. "I repeatedly said my loyalty was not derived from compulsions in my coding. It is the logical consequence of his actions."

"Still though," Boulder said, "There's decent commanding officer and then there's- and I can't believe _you're_ the only one being punished for last night!"

"I am not the only one," Chase said. "The Chief is also joining in my punishment." He looked at his teammates, and shifted uncomfortably on his pedes. "I know humans move much faster than our kind, and I realize it may still be too early for you, but, if we are truly to make this planet our home, I hope that they will prove themselves worthy of your trust. They have earned mine." There was a beat of silence.

"Awww!" Blades cooed, stepping towards Chase and throwing his arms around Chase's shoulders and pressing their forehelms together, teeking processor to processor in a casual show of camaraderie. "Underneath all of your rules and regs, you're kinda a softie, huh?" He pulsed his field affectionately. "Weird as scrap, but sweet as rust sticks."

"I would be cautious Blades, seeing as much the same could be said of all of you," Chase said, cautiously returning the field pulse. Heatwave snorted a little.

"Don't worry Heatwave, he meant Boulder and me," Blades said cheerfully, pulling away. "We all know you're a grump straight to the core."

"Thanks Blades," Heatwave said, sarcastically but unmistakably pleased.

"It's really the variation in the kind of grump that makes Heatwave so beautiful," Boulder observed, "Like striation in a stone- each layer is a different kind of grumpy."

"Aw, I think you've hurt his feelings! Do you need a hug, Heatwave?"

"Absolutely not."

"Chase!" the Chief's voice echoed down the firepole shaft from the garage. "Ready to go partner?" Chase looked at Heatwave.

"Are we 'good'?" he asked. Heatwave met his gaze and nodded.

"Yeah pal, we're fine. I'm- sorry for yelling at you, and stuff, last night." Chase gave him a curt salute.

"Apology accepted, sir," he said, and stepped back onto the vehicle lift. "I'll see you all this afternoon?"

"See you then," Heatwave said, and Chase triggered the lift to elevate him once more, looking forward to facing the consequences of his actions with the Chief.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally done! I've got another two parts planned, but there are a couple ideas I want to work on first. Thanks to everyone who kudoed or commented on the first part, you're the best! Hope you like this! Also, if you're curious:  
> Nanoklik=1/8 of a second (second)  
> Klik=512 nanokliks=64 seconds (minute)  
> Breem=8 kliks= 8 minutes 32 seconds ("ten minutes")  
> Joor=8 breems~1 hour 8 minutes (hour)  
> Groon=6 joors~7 hours ("big hour")  
> Cycle=4 groons~27 hours (work shift)  
> Orn=12 cycles~13 days (day)  
> Decaorn=10 orns~130 days (week)  
> Metacycle=3 decaorns~390 days (month)  
> Quartex=20 years 9 months  
> Vorn=83 years (year)


End file.
